Taliban Funding

[All-Green]

"ISI mentoring Taliban to cultivate poppy?"

Good question that casts perspective on how the U.S. is mentoring Afghanistan to be a world-record producing opium nation now...as Afghanistan also was during the years under the Taliban.

" In July 2001 Afghanistan (under Mullah Omar) declared poppy cultivation illegal and nearly decimated the entire year's products so that action does not fit in well with this point of view that Taliban were drug barons out to strengthen the drug trade..."

And you explain both the preceding and subsequent years how WRT the taliban?

"...You have some really rotten friends in Afghanistan..."

Yes...and elsewhere too when it comes to these and other matters. Check yourselves at the door. The moment afghan opium crosses into Pakistan, you assume ownership. Where and how it proceeds has much to do with those in other governments besides the GoA.

"this is the reason even US is not directly taking the Bull by the horns here..."

No. There are more reasons to include Great Britain's lead role in the U.N. anti-drug effort. We follow exceedingly well. They try hard but are under-resourced in the most critical area of the nation. I won't apologize for our efforts as supporters of their leading role. We've played that exceedingly well in our region. So too have others. The measurable successes are clear if you wish to acknowledge them.

Karzai's point about alternative crops is valid and he isn't the only to note such. As to the speculation and family ties, please refer to nepotism and the role of your current President and past leaders. Why do you assume corruption starts in and stops at the afghan border when these drugs move very freely through your country too?

Seems an excessively odd position.

I re-iterate- there's no Afghan insurgency of consequence (or at all) in the absence of Pakistani sancturary since early 2002. That sanctuary and the long association of the taliban with opium is the root of this problem.

For all of the complaints by Gretchen Peters about America in her NPR interview, she makes abundantly clear this long association between opium and the taliban and the role played by them today. Worthy listening.

There's plenty of blame to spread around here.

Well, i am not blaming US for teaching the drug trade to Afghans, you have casually included the ISI and i do not want the ISI phobia to spread...already too much is said of the ISI without any evidence!

The only fact is that Afghans themselves have been in this trade and it has increased with the devastation and desperation they have had to face.
This is the most logical and established fact.

The accusation should not be Taliban alone...this is the hallmark of most commanders from the Mujahideen era as well so blaming Taliban for the opium trade is not accurate, this has been the main resource for most Afghan warlords!
Regarding Taliban role, agreed that the drug harvest were increasing but 2001 is something which actually happened after a bumper crop so it really cannot be explained if Taliban were a drug mafia and that is what i am saying...it does not make sense for a drug mafia to destroy a years crops!
This is something i cannot understand...why this happened?
Why would the cash starved Taliban destroy the crops?

Pakistan did not offer sanctuary to Taliban for drug trade, you know exactly why millions of Afghans found sanctuary in Pakistan...Taliban is just a name of Afghan Madrassah students who rose to power in Post Jihad era...they are very much part of the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan/Afghanistan belt and beyond...they were not aliens birthed by the ISI or Pakistan...too much credit is given where it is not due.

Ahhh, the corrupt governments and nepotism....
I do not assume that no other government is corrupt, corruption is everywhere and even present in the greatly managed USA (no sarcasm indented).
My point is very simple and totally in accordance with an anti drug policy, the production centers are the best bet to inflict substantial damage on the drug trade, the trafficking and smuggling can never be 100% controlled...
The availability of so many drugs in all western countries is more than ample proof of the inadequacy of all to deal with the drugs once they are smuggled out of the country of origin.

Pakistan is no exception and therefore i really am not ashamed about Pakistan's performance so far, we do capture and destroy a lot of drugs but of course are only as successful as the rest of the world to stop smuggling.

Coming to excessively odd positions, Sir you are also indulging in one right here....
Regarding your honest admission of being under-resourced in the most critical area... it is quite odd that you and your dozens of allied countries and ISAF are under-resourced in critical areas which are Taliban strongholds and producing enough drugs to finance a War which is wreaking havoc in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
How can you hope to defeat them with their financial lifeline completely intact?

 

[wtf]

There would also be no Afghan insurgency of any consequence, or Pakistani insurgency for that matter, were weapons and resources courtesy the poppy crop grown in Afghanistan not transiting through Afghanistan and supplying the insurgents on both sides.

Your nations efforts at reduction in the poppy trade have been abysmal, and the drug trade continues to fund these people.

Your statistics clearly indicate that 'done little to stop it' is an accurate comment.

Poppy is not particularly valuable in itself. At the source Poppy is worth slightly more than equivalent rice or wheat farming. It's price in the market is determined by its rarity and the level of purification.

In some parts of India Marijuana goes for the same price as curry leaves. If you take it to Dubai you are either a dead man or a millionaire. It's similar for poppy.

Opium is refined to form Morphine which itself is not very expensive. Then this Morphine is further processed to form Heroin. These refining processes add a lot of value to the goods, it still does not get its "full" price until it gets to an area where it is prohibited (and is rare to find). It is reputedly the most expensive in the US, but I doubt anyone is doing trans-atlantic shipments of these things. More likely it ends up in Europe or shipped the other way around into the "Golden Triangle" on the east.

The way to destroy poppy use might be to get to the farmers, but if you want to take out the funding you'd hit the areas where most value is added -- which is processing and transport.

So where are these processing factories located and who actually ships them into Europe ? I know a few Iranians who told me that Opium is easier to find than Alcohol in Iran. But Morphine/Heroin is rarely used. So it must be bypassing Iran or getting processed further up on the path to Iran.

Has there been any reports of large scale Heroin/Morphine plants in Afghanistan or Iran ?

 

[wtf]

Found a story on the possible processing of this stuff in Afghanistan. Apparently 92 tons of Opium was found!!
They go on to blame Karzai's brother, Taliban and Bin Laden for directly being involved in the trade - but i don't know what part of that to trust.

American Chronicle | Largest drug bust in history in Afghanistan 92 tons

 

[MZUBAIR]

Indian RAW funded Swat terrorists:$650 million to destabilize Pakistan

WASHINGTON, D.C.—There have been reports about Indian involvement in BLA and other nefarious crooks of the garden variety. Now there is solid proof and Indian RAW agents have been caught red handed.





India intelligence: “‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.”


We HAVE discussed the Indian involvement in terror activities in Pakistan.


India a secret player in Afghanistan: Bases—Lashkargarh, Qushila Jadid,Khahak,Hassan Killies


We have reported on Indian intelligence services through our correspondents in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and USA. Now there are reports that Afghans have been captured and who have admitted to the RAW activities.


Technorati Tags: Indian terror tactics


 Anatomy of Indian Intelligence Services and Alliances

 RAW facts on South Asia- India fails to occupy countries.

 LTTE was created by India

 Indian sponsored Tamil terror in Sri Lanka continues unabated

 Lanka: Indian LTTE terrorists use youth as cannon fodder

 Lanka Letter: RAW THE RASCAL by Prem Raj in Columbo

 Pakistan Sri Lanka growing military alliance

 Growing Pakistan Sri Lanka ties


Arrested militants name RAW for funding 680m through Afghan secret agency: The three arrested members of a militants’ gang especially deputed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have disclosed that RAW has been funding suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan and that the Indian agency has funneled Rs 680 million through its links with the Afghan secret agency. The gang of three persons have brazenly admitted that they belong to the group of persons who had been deputed to ‘destabilise democratic Pakistan’ with the sole purpose of ‘enforcement of Shariah’ in the country. Operators of an intelligence agency, working beyond the call of their duty, came into contact with a source ready for a tip-off against a reward and led to the arrest of Khurram Ishtiaq, Ghulam Mustafa and Shamim. The persons had been working under Qari Hussain, second-in-command to Baitullah Mehsud. All the three had been arrested on Aug 13 this year while they were on the prowl for a target. The militants had been arrested ‘red-handed’ as they possessed complete suicide kits, including two jackets and 70kg of explosives and detonators. The accused were hardened militants and took a lot of time to break in and make confessions. They revealed that Qari Hussain had been working to help three adjutants: Farukh Usman alias Shahjee, Tayyab alias Baba; Ustad, the trainer to destabilise democratic government. The Nation october 22nd, 2008





BLA – A threat to international peace by Ahmad Shah Baloch: “The BLA is the creation of Indian intelligence agencies, which are trying to create instability in the areas bordering Iran and Afghanistan.”. Expose on RAW by Isha Khan of Dhaka Bangladesh

Dhaka Diary: RAW 2008: An Instrument of Indian Imperialism by Isha Khan Dhaka Bangladesh.





In typical “baghal main churi, moun men ram ram” fashion [a famous sating about the Hindus, roughly translated as, ‘talking sweet while hiding a knife in the armpit’], the Indian delegation first hides the fact that the RAW agents are funding and arming the BLA and supporting suicide bombings by anti-Pakistan elements in the USA





Wednesday, October 22, 2008 By MAK Lodhi


LAHORE: The three arrested members of a militants’ gang especially deputed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have disclosed that RAW has been funding suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan and that the Indian agency has funnelled Rs 680 million through its links with the Afghan secret agency.


The gang of three persons have brazenly admitted that they belong to the group of persons who had been deputed to ‘destabilise democratic Pakistan’ with the sole purpose of ‘enforcement of Shariah’ in the country.


Operators of an intelligence agency, working beyond the call of their duty, came into contact with a source ready for a tip-off against a reward and led to the arrest of Khurram Ishtiaq, Ghulam Mustafa and Shamim. The persons had been working under Qari Hussain, second-in-command to Baitullah Mehsud. All the three had been arrested on Aug 13 this year while they were on the prowl for a target. The militants had been arrested ‘red-handed’ as they possessed complete suicide kits, including two jackets and 70kg of explosives and detonators.

The accused were hardened militants and took a lot of time to break in and make confessions. They revealed that Qari Hussain had been working to help three adjutants—Farukh Usman alias Shahjee, Tayyab alias Baba; Ustad, the trainer to destabilise democratic government.


Qari Hussain, the leader, prepares suicide bombers and dispatches them throughout Pakistan. He also manages funds for the splinter groups from RAW which works in collusion with the Afghan intelligence agency RAM.


Farukh Usman works as Qari’s deputy and runs the sub-setup to carry out attacks in Lahore in particular and Punjab in general. He was the mastermind of suicide attacks on FIA building, Naval War College, Model Town, Lahore High Court and PAF bus in Sargodha, the investigation has revealed.


Tayyab alias Baba mainly deals with Rawalpindi/Islamabad. He was the man behind blasts at Aabpara Market and Marriott Hotel. The third person known only as Ustad is an expert of making bombs. He is said to be of Indian origin and he ‘works with a vengeance’. He is the man who leads suicide bombers to the marked site of the blast.


The investigation revealed that there are two sub-teams: three persons of one team work under Ustad. Two of the arrested persons—Shahmim Alam alias Sohail alias Kashif alias Uncle and Khurram Ishtiaq alias Ibrahim—have been active members of the TTP and worked under direct guidance of Ustad.

Shamim was the facilitator. His task was to distribute funds to suicide bombers at the behest of Qari Hussain and Tayyab@Baba. Being educated and a well-dressed civilian-look-alike, he was assigned another important job of providing ‘reconnaissance of the target area’.


He possesses the canny ability of mixing up with urbanites. Khurram Ishtiaq alias Ibrahim is a well-trained militant. His job is to harbour suicide bombers at a secret venue till they are led to the area of operation to carry out the job. The third person of this setup, Sajid, is a resident of Ali Khel, Waziristan. It is not certain whether his services were ‘utilized’ or made his escape good.


Another team which works under Farrukh Usman alias Shahjee includes Bablu, Rehan, Ghulam Mustafa alias Asif (the third arrested person) and Abdul Rahim. Bablu’s assignment is to provide explosives at the nick of time when the suicide bombers have been finally prepared to perform the ‘sacred feat’.


Ghulam Mustafa and Abdul Rahim, a diehard Jehadi serve as guards and take care that none of perpetrators shows his back and become a deserter. In that case, there is only one choice left and that too leads one to heavens.


Former boss of the intelligence agency, Tariq Lodhi, had recommended a reward and commendation for the team who apprehended the culprits but they say their new boss Shoaib Suddle turned it down on the grounds that agency operators just did their job and no reward should be given for performing duty.


The team members disclosed that they had arrested two prime targets during Pervaiz Musharraf regime and they both had a head money of $5 million each but the reward money was shared by the two premier agencies instead passing it on to the individuals who had arrested them on their own initiative.


The team has long been working on the intelligence of militants but they got the culprits apprehended through a middleman who is ready to divulge more but “only if he is rewarded for the catch.”


The team claims that it could reach out to Qari Hussain and his gang and thus eliminate the danger of suicide blasts in Pakistan by 90 percent. Talking to The News on the condition of not divulging their names, they said, “We neither have free hand nor enough resources to break the hornet’s nest.” (Exceprt from The News–Submitted by Irtiza Ali)

 

[MZUBAIR]

Indian RAW funded Swat terrorists:$650 million to destabilize Pakistan

WASHINGTON, D.C.—There have been reports about Indian involvement in BLA and other nefarious crooks of the garden variety. Now there is solid proof and Indian RAW agents have been caught red handed.

India intelligence: “‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.”

We HAVE discussed the Indian involvement in terror activities in Pakistan.

India a secret player in Afghanistan: Bases—Lashkargarh, Qushila Jadid,Khahak,Hassan Killies

We have reported on Indian intelligence services through our correspondents in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and USA. Now there are reports that Afghans have been captured and who have admitted to the RAW activities.

Technorati Tags: Indian terror tactics

 Anatomy of Indian Intelligence Services and Alliances

 RAW facts on South Asia- India fails to occupy countries.

 LTTE was created by India

 Indian sponsored Tamil terror in Sri Lanka continues unabated

 Lanka: Indian LTTE terrorists use youth as cannon fodder

 Lanka Letter: RAW THE RASCAL by Prem Raj in Columbo

 Pakistan Sri Lanka growing military alliance

 Growing Pakistan Sri Lanka ties

Arrested militants name RAW for funding 680m through Afghan secret agency: The three arrested members of a militants’ gang especially deputed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have disclosed that RAW has been funding suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan and that the Indian agency has funneled Rs 680 million through its links with the Afghan secret agency. The gang of three persons have brazenly admitted that they belong to the group of persons who had been deputed to ‘destabilise democratic Pakistan’ with the sole purpose of ‘enforcement of Shariah’ in the country. Operators of an intelligence agency, working beyond the call of their duty, came into contact with a source ready for a tip-off against a reward and led to the arrest of Khurram Ishtiaq, Ghulam Mustafa and Shamim. The persons had been working under Qari Hussain, second-in-command to Baitullah Mehsud. All the three had been arrested on Aug 13 this year while they were on the prowl for a target. The militants had been arrested ‘red-handed’ as they possessed complete suicide kits, including two jackets and 70kg of explosives and detonators. The accused were hardened militants and took a lot of time to break in and make confessions. They revealed that Qari Hussain had been working to help three adjutants: Farukh Usman alias Shahjee, Tayyab alias Baba; Ustad, the trainer to destabilise democratic government. The Nation october 22nd, 2008

BLA – A threat to international peace by Ahmad Shah Baloch: “The BLA is the creation of Indian intelligence agencies, which are trying to create instability in the areas bordering Iran and Afghanistan.”. Expose on RAW by Isha Khan of Dhaka Bangladesh

Dhaka Diary: RAW 2008: An Instrument of Indian Imperialism by Isha Khan Dhaka Bangladesh.

In typical “baghal main churi, moun men ram ram” fashion [a famous sating about the Hindus, roughly translated as, ‘talking sweet while hiding a knife in the armpit’], the Indian delegation first hides the fact that the RAW agents are funding and arming the BLA and supporting suicide bombings by anti-Pakistan elements in the USA

Wednesday, October 22, 2008 By MAK Lodhi

LAHORE: The three arrested members of a militants’ gang especially deputed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have disclosed that RAW has been funding suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan and that the Indian agency has funnelled Rs 680 million through its links with the Afghan secret agency.

The gang of three persons have brazenly admitted that they belong to the group of persons who had been deputed to ‘destabilise democratic Pakistan’ with the sole purpose of ‘enforcement of Shariah’ in the country.

Operators of an intelligence agency, working beyond the call of their duty, came into contact with a source ready for a tip-off against a reward and led to the arrest of Khurram Ishtiaq, Ghulam Mustafa and Shamim. The persons had been working under Qari Hussain, second-in-command to Baitullah Mehsud. All the three had been arrested on Aug 13 this year while they were on the prowl for a target. The militants had been arrested ‘red-handed’ as they possessed complete suicide kits, including two jackets and 70kg of explosives and detonators.

The accused were hardened militants and took a lot of time to break in and make confessions. They revealed that Qari Hussain had been working to help three adjutants—Farukh Usman alias Shahjee, Tayyab alias Baba; Ustad, the trainer to destabilise democratic government.

Qari Hussain, the leader, prepares suicide bombers and dispatches them throughout Pakistan. He also manages funds for the splinter groups from RAW which works in collusion with the Afghan intelligence agency RAM.

Farukh Usman works as Qari’s deputy and runs the sub-setup to carry out attacks in Lahore in particular and Punjab in general. He was the mastermind of suicide attacks on FIA building, Naval War College, Model Town, Lahore High Court and PAF bus in Sargodha, the investigation has revealed.

Tayyab alias Baba mainly deals with Rawalpindi/Islamabad. He was the man behind blasts at Aabpara Market and Marriott Hotel. The third person known only as Ustad is an expert of making bombs. He is said to be of Indian origin and he ‘works with a vengeance’. He is the man who leads suicide bombers to the marked site of the blast.

The investigation revealed that there are two sub-teams: three persons of one team work under Ustad. Two of the arrested persons—Shahmim Alam alias Sohail alias Kashif alias Uncle and Khurram Ishtiaq alias Ibrahim—have been active members of the TTP and worked under direct guidance of Ustad.

Shamim was the facilitator. His task was to distribute funds to suicide bombers at the behest of Qari Hussain and Tayyab@Baba. Being educated and a well-dressed civilian-look-alike, he was assigned another important job of providing ‘reconnaissance of the target area’.

He possesses the canny ability of mixing up with urbanites. Khurram Ishtiaq alias Ibrahim is a well-trained militant. His job is to harbour suicide bombers at a secret venue till they are led to the area of operation to carry out the job. The third person of this setup, Sajid, is a resident of Ali Khel, Waziristan. It is not certain whether his services were ‘utilized’ or made his escape good.

Another team which works under Farrukh Usman alias Shahjee includes Bablu, Rehan, Ghulam Mustafa alias Asif (the third arrested person) and Abdul Rahim. Bablu’s assignment is to provide explosives at the nick of time when the suicide bombers have been finally prepared to perform the ‘sacred feat’.

Ghulam Mustafa and Abdul Rahim, a diehard Jehadi serve as guards and take care that none of perpetrators shows his back and become a deserter. In that case, there is only one choice left and that too leads one to heavens.

Former boss of the intelligence agency, Tariq Lodhi, had recommended a reward and commendation for the team who apprehended the culprits but they say their new boss Shoaib Suddle turned it down on the grounds that agency operators just did their job and no reward should be given for performing duty.

The team members disclosed that they had arrested two prime targets during Pervaiz Musharraf regime and they both had a head money of $5 million each but the reward money was shared by the two premier agencies instead passing it on to the individuals who had arrested them on their own initiative.

The team has long been working on the intelligence of militants but they got the culprits apprehended through a middleman who is ready to divulge more but “only if he is rewarded for the catch.”

The team claims that it could reach out to Qari Hussain and his gang and thus eliminate the danger of suicide blasts in Pakistan by 90 percent. Talking to The News on the condition of not divulging their names, they said, “We neither have free hand nor enough resources to break the hornet’s nest.” (Exceprt from The News–Submitted by Irtiza Ali)

 

[MZUBAIR]

Inspite of funding to 650 Million to destablise Pakistan , if they invest that in their homeland (India) to decrease pooverty, surely that would be far more batter.

What a miserable country!!!!

 

[S-2]

"Your statistics clearly indicate that 'done little to stop it' is an accurate comment. "

Petulance as the statistics show marked change in many, many areas and a one year reduction of nearly 20%. Please follow closely- Northeast region- (-96%);
Central Region- (-38%); Eastern Region- (-94%); Northern Region- (-84%); SOUTHERN Region- (-1%); Western Region- (-23%).

Seems dramatic to me. Further, as to ascribing the blame to America, how can this be. We don't have the U.N. lead nor is our region (east) the worst. A.M., you may blame the British. Not America.

Drumbeat dissemblance. Accept responsibility for the increased trafficking lining the pockets of your own corrupt officials and admit without a taliban leadership and sanctuary provided by your country over the last seven and one-half years there'd be no insurgency.

Simple and oh too true. I guess if you provide it long enough we can learn to accept it as right and proper? Suffer the consequences.

Sadly, the drugs flow through Pakistan and other places like water. So too the weapons from the gulf.

Pakistani corruption has long mentored their less sophisticated afghan brothers and still points the way to personal profit.

We aren't getting anywhere with your childishness and it's become tiresome and trite. Play your games to your appreciative audience. I don't need it further.

 

[pakomar]

S-2
If Russia start operating in Mexico peacefully to help Mexicans. How will US feel?

 

[MastanKhan]

"Your statistics clearly indicate that 'done little to stop it' is an accurate comment. "

Petulance as the statistics show marked change in many, many areas and a one year reduction of nearly 20%. Please follow closely- Northeast region- (-96%);
Central Region- (-38%); Eastern Region- (-94%); Northern Region- (-84%); SOUTHERN Region- (-1%); Western Region- (-23%).

Seems dramatic to me. Further, as to ascribing the blame to America, how can this be. We don't have the U.N. lead nor is our region (east) the worst. A.M., you may blame the British. Not America.

Drumbeat dissemblance. Accept responsibility for the increased trafficking lining the pockets of your own corrupt officials and admit without a taliban leadership and sanctuary provided by your country over the last seven and one-half years there'd be no insurgency.

Simple and oh too true. I guess if you provide it long enough we can learn to accept it as right and proper? Suffer the consequences.

Sadly, the drugs flow through Pakistan and other places like water. So too the weapons from the gulf.

Pakistani corruption has long mentored their less sophisticated afghan brothers and still points the way to personal profit.

We aren't getting anywhere with your childishness and it's become tiresome and trite. Play your games to your appreciative audience. I don't need it further.

Sir,

If your millitary had done their job---there would be no insurgency---you can only force the world to follow you by your threats, sanctions and trade embargos---it is just a crying game by the american millitary now---a failure in iraq---a failure in afghanistan---a failure everywhere else in the world---indeed you can go and kill hundreds of thousands without prejudice in the name of righteousness---and people fear you for the fire power you have---but other than that---with all the superior weaponery, and intelligence skills---the american generals have proven to be worst than third rate leaders of any millitary in every scenario of leadership skills in the last many wars.

Your millitary cannot do the job---place an embargo on that nation----go crying to your congressman---please sir---we cannot conquer and rule this country----our plans failed---the sea was rough---there was a desert storm----the helicopters collided in the air---the enemy was waiting for us---for godsake man---place an embargo on that nation.

In mexico---they blame the mexican for drug traficking---why don't you stop the consumption of drugs yourself---oh but during the vietnam war the dead bodies were coming back filled with the drugs---.

Why don't you control the poppy plant in afghanistan---it is your millitary and your writ enforced over there---stop the poppy production in your backyard---that is your job---why don't you do some thing right for once---do one thing right at least---and then you can brag---.

Weapons coming from gulf---stupidity at its height---a total lackof common sense---you control the gulf countries----the leaders of the gulf nations are your lackies---.

The gulf nations don't produce any weapons---are you suggesting that they are the transit point----why then don't you control the transit point as well and find out where the source head is---it is so easy to do it---.

Unless you don't want to find it----because it is either coming from your resources---your own weapons either sold by soldiers---or stolen or sold by your allies the afghan soldiers and warlords---or last but not the least, being supplied by your new found ally in the sub-continent.

The way things are happening in swat area---seems like the u s millitary has no interest in capturing or killing the taliban running back into afghanistann anymore----why is that---is it because these taliban are backed by their supporters.

As a matter of fact there are no checks and balances in place to capture taliban coming from the uzbekistan and other ex russian states---passing through afghanistan----the american millitary has given them a free drive through card---.

Pakistani corruption maybe at its highest or lowest---but truth is that the u s millitary incompetence is at its all time high---.

Now that all the major industrial conglomerates in the u s of a have fallen to the ground and others to follow---the truth comes out that there is no more corruption anywhere else in the world than the u s of a. It is just like a big snake swallowing its own tail---today it finds out that the only thing left to swallow is its head.

I know that I may very well be neutralized for what I have said---.

American soldier is no 10 foot tall soldier---just like his counter part the russian soldier---it is only the fire power that we fear.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

"Your statistics clearly indicate that 'done little to stop it' is an accurate comment. "

Petulance as the statistics show marked change in many, many areas and a one year reduction of nearly 20%. Please follow closely- Northeast region- (-96%);
Central Region- (-38%); Eastern Region- (-94%); Northern Region- (-84%); SOUTHERN Region- (-1%); Western Region- (-23%).

"193,000 hectares to 157,000"

Very little - your own statistics. You can claim you have done a lot when only 44,000 hectares are left, not the other way around.

As much as you try and hide behind the '39 other nations' rhetoric, the show in Afghanistan is all yours. None of those nations would be in Afghanistan were it not for the US, and there perhaps would not be such widespread failure on every level had US resources not been allocated to an unnecessary Iraq war.

Drumbeat dissemblance. Accept responsibility for the increased trafficking lining the pockets of your own corrupt officials and admit without a taliban leadership and sanctuary provided by your country over the last seven and one-half years there'd be no insurgency.

Simple and oh too true. I guess if you provide it long enough we can learn to accept it as right and proper? Suffer the consequences.

Sadly, the drugs flow through Pakistan and other places like water. So too the weapons from the gulf.

Pakistani corruption has long mentored their less sophisticated afghan brothers and still points the way to personal profit.

We aren't getting anywhere with your childishness and it's become tiresome and trite. Play your games to your appreciative audience. I don't need it further.

The dissemblance and refusal to accept responsibility for failure in multiple areas in Afghanistan is all yours S-2.

Not only did I show you to be distorting my positions elsewhere, but you refuse to acknowledge the evidence provided from both Interpol and your own nation that the overwhelming majority of drugs flow through Northern Afghanistan and Iran. So too the weapons. So drop the pretense of self-righteous indignation at being called out.

You have provided no stats to indicate that any significant weapons flow from the Gulf into Pakistan exists - however, US intelligence has blamed weapons smuggling from Iran into Afghanistan, as well as the weapons dumps left over from the Cold War. The former Soviet Republics were left with huge stockpiles of weapons, especially small arms. The drug trade through Northern Afghanistan and the CAR's has been clearly established, and other reports posted before have talked of the flourishing drugs for weapons trade in Northern Afghanistan and the CAR's, making the entire business even more profitable.

But of course this does not fit in with your dissembling narrative of the US efforts being overwhelmingly successful were it not for the sanctuary of Waziristan, conveniently ignoring the fact that the thousands of fighters brought in by Qari Rehman during the Bajaur campaign came in from Afghanistan.

Indeed, Qari Rehman is an Afghan Taliban commander. The US military leadership has admitted the possibility of Taliban flowing across the porous border into Pakistan were the US to carry out its planned offensive in Southern Afghanistan. That gives lie to your assertion of the Afghan insurgency existing primarily because of sanctuary in FATA, since you wouldn't need military operations in that region were it not a haven for the Taliban, nor would there be an concern over large numbers of Taliban moving into Pakistan unless their existing havens were in Afghanistan.

Your whole argument of 'corruption' is a strawman, brought about to deflect attention away from the fact that you were shown to be wrong about the existence of the drug trade through the north, and the abysmal failure of the US/NATO in controlling the production of poppy in Afghanistan that fuels the drug trade.

Dissemble as much as you want, that is the fact - there woudl be no transit and no resources for the Taliban were it not for the fact that the US/NATO has failed miserably in 8 years of occupation to come anywhere close to controlling the drugs trade. And there are significant Taliban havens in Afghanistan, especially in the South. Your failures have allowed that trade to supply and strengthen the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

That is fact.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Poppy is not particularly valuable in itself.

My point being that had the US/NATO acted strongly against the poppy crop and drug trade, the Taliban would not be as well equipped and funded as they are now.

The way to destroy poppy use might be to get to the farmers, but if you want to take out the funding you'd hit the areas where most value is added -- which is processing and transport.

Processing labs can be small and mobile, and the terrain is a nightmare to monitor, so focusing on labs and transport is going to be futile and largely a 'whack a mole' endeavor.

The most effective means is the route both Iran and Pakistan took - eliminated poppy cultivation through alternate crops, education and policing.

The US/NATO had and have far more resources at their disposal than Iran, and definitely more than Pakistan.

Eliminating poppy at the farmer level is the most effective way of combating the drug trade.

 

[MastanKhan]

My point being that had the US/NATO acted strongly against the poppy crop and drug trade, the Taliban would not be as well equipped and funded as they are now.


Processing labs can be small and mobile, and the terrain is a nightmare to monitor, so focusing on labs and transport is going to be futile and largely a 'whack a mole' endeavor.

The most effective means is the route both Iran and Pakistan took - eliminated poppy cultivation through alternate crops, education and policing.

The US/NATO had and have far more resources at their disposal than Iran, and definitely more than Pakistan.

Eliminating poppy at the farmer level is the most effective way of combating the drug trade.

Hi Agno,

There is only one way that u s can control the situation---it needs another 50000 troops on the ground---does it have the money, funds and resources to do that---I doubt it very much---they will hang around for as long as they possibly can---for all sense of purpose and reasoning---they have lost this war in afghanistan.

So right now the media campaign that we are seeing from the u s---in the american media is just the first step to force the blame of their personal failures on someone else----you aregoing to see this theme being sped up by the u s.

 

[wtf]

My point being that had the US/NATO acted strongly against the poppy crop and drug trade, the Taliban would not be as well equipped and funded as they are now.


Processing labs can be small and mobile, and the terrain is a nightmare to monitor, so focusing on labs and transport is going to be futile and largely a 'whack a mole' endeavor.

The most effective means is the route both Iran and Pakistan took - eliminated poppy cultivation through alternate crops, education and policing.

The US/NATO had and have far more resources at their disposal than Iran, and definitely more than Pakistan.

Eliminating poppy at the farmer level is the most effective way of combating the drug trade.

I wasn't thinking of curbing drugs, which in itself is a good end goal. I was thinking of cutting the funding that drugs provide.

Apparently others have started thinking of the same. They are now banning acetic anhydride. The article also contains estimates for prices and quantities of drugs/ingredients used in Afghanistan.
Bloomberg Printer-Friendly Page



Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The international community is scoring some rare victories in its war against the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, and they aren't on the battlefield.

A campaign led by the United Nations has intercepted shipments totaling several hundred tons of a chemical that helps turn poppy-based opium into heroin. The Taliban gets as much as 60 percent of its income from the drug trade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization estimates, using the profits to purchase weapons for the seven-year-long conflict.

The intensified effort to block the Taliban's access to acetic anhydride comes as the Afghan war turns deadlier, with a record 236 U.S. and allied troops killed so far this year, according to icasualties.org, a Web site that tracks coalition fatalities. U.S. Army General John Craddock, supreme allied commander for Europe, is pushing to increase military involvement in countering the narcotics trade.

Squeezing this trade would ``cut the legs out from under'' the Taliban, ``because they won't have the money to pay the bomb makers and buy materials to attack us,'' Craddock says. ``The soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines of NATO are being killed because of the money being generated from this industry.''

The UN campaign includes countries from Slovenia and Turkey to Russia and South Korea and has created an unusual level of cooperation among nations otherwise at odds, including the U.S. and Iran. Since the effort began about a year ago, the UN and national police have increased the amount of acetic anhydride intercepted from 24.5 tons in 2006, according to the Vienna- based UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Epicenter of War

Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's heroin supply, the UNODC says. Almost all of its opium comes from seven southern provinces controlled by the Taliban and local drug lords in the epicenter of the war, which has caused the deaths of more than 980 U.S. and allied troops since it began in 2001.

``The geographical and logistical overlap of opium and the insurgency is well-established,'' says Antonio Maria Costa, the UNODC's executive director. ``Since drugs are funding insurgency and insurgency enables drug cultivation, insurgency and narcotics must be fought together.''

Acetic anhydride is used in dyes and perfumes, for metal buffing and by the pharmaceutical industry for such products as aspirin and the pain reliever paracetamol. It is produced in 21 nations and has long been under international controls.

Illegal Diversions

The UN's goal is to stop shipments from being illegally diverted from distribution routes in importing countries. Since there aren't any authorized uses for acetic anhydride in Afghanistan, any shipment headed there is suspect, says Jean Luc Lemahieu, chief of the UNODC's Europe and Asia section.

``If we find it there, we know there is something wrong,'' he says. ``There is no legal excuse for it.''

The chemical allows Afghanistan's drug lords to dramatically increase revenue by producing heroin in their own laboratories instead of shipping out raw opium to be processed elsewhere. According to Craddock, a kilo of opium fetches about $100, compared with $3,500 for heroin.

``If we keep control on the chemical precursors, we reduce the income available to the insurgents,'' Costa says.

The amounts of the chemical intercepted so far are only a fraction of what is used in the labs, which now need 1,300 tons to process about 5,000 tons of opium -- 60 percent of the country's production -- into 670 tons of morphine or heroin, according to the UNODC.

Smuggling Networks

Still, the operations appear to have slowed the flow of acetic anhydride into Afghanistan, says Rossen Popov, chief of precursors control at the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board, which is affiliated with the UN. As evidence, he cites attempts by smuggling networks to purchase substitute chemicals. Another indication of the success is a spike in sales of opium rather than heroin from the country, Costa says.

Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan fell 19 percent this year to 157,000 hectares (387,955 acres), after rising more than 20- fold to a record 193,000 in 2007 from 8,000 in 2001, when U.S. troops first arrived after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. According to a UNODC report, the drop stemmed from drought, along with help the Afghan government has given farmers to switch to other crops.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who boosted the number of French soldiers in Afghanistan to 2,600 this year, helped shepherd a resolution through the UN Security Council in June that called for closer monitoring of the manufacture, export and illicit trade of chemicals the Taliban uses to produce heroin. The measure passed unanimously.

Shipments Confiscated

In late 2007, 10 tons of acetic anhydride were seized in the Russian city of Nizhni Novgorod. A 14-ton shipment was intercepted in March in Karachi, Pakistan, and in April, another 5 tons were confiscated at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Smaller shipments were stopped in several Central Asian countries, according to Lemahieu.

The biggest haul came in Slovenia in June, when police seized 98 tons of the chemical in a shipment labeled ``fabric softener'' headed for Turkey, says Drago Menegalija, representative of the Slovene Police criminal division.

The yearlong investigation involved nine nations, including Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey, and focused on a criminal group that had bought 366 tons of acetic anhydride from a Czech company between 2004 and 2008, enough to produce 147 tons of pure heroin, Menegalija says.

``All these countries are against drug trafficking because their populations suffer from drug use,'' says Pierre Lafrance, a former French diplomat and president of MADERA, a Paris-based organization that assists rural development in Afghanistan. ``It is an international scourge, so something must be done.''

The next step ``is to identify and prosecute those responsible and to follow the money,'' says Mark Colhoun, a regional coordinator for UNODC, based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. ``It is definitely a cat-and-mouse game.''

 

[wtf]

From the above Bloomberg article, we can get a crude estimate of revenues from drug trade.

Total Opium production = 8334 tons.
60% of production of Opium is converted to Heroin weighing 670 tons. Each kilo is worth $3500. So this has revenues of about $2.3 Billion annually.
Remaining 40% is sold as Opium at $100 a kilo. Thats an annual revenue of $334 Million.

If the Heroin labs were taken out, assume the 60% now left unprocessed would be sold as Opium. That would give revenues of $500 Million.

So revenues from Heroin is about 8 times larger than revenues from Opium. Considering that labs are much less numerous than farmers, I would say that taking out the chemicals suppliers, labs and transporters are a pretty good way of cutting off the revenues.

Stop shipping acetic anhydride and ether to Afghanistan and we'll see how they process their drugs anymore. the only other use I can see for this stuff in Afghanistan is as mixer in wood-polish or in paints.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

WTF:

If in combating heroin production the objective is to cut down things on the supply side (banning acetic anhydride) then it may be successful, if you can actually regulate all suppliers and legitimate users of that chemical. But if you are going to try and chase down the labs and transit routes, it is going to be futile, for the reasons I mentioned.

Even in the US, with all of the resources and well developed institutions that have been focused on the demand side, the drugs still make it through.

There is no long term alternative to cutting down on poppy production. The Afghan farmers need to move to alternate crops as the GoP convinced the farmers to do so in Pakistan.